Wednesday, March 31, 2010

"We pray that by growing each day in fidelity and love for Christ, [priests] will be messengers of hope, reconciliation and peace in the midst of their brothers and sisters"
- Pope Benedict XVI, March 31, 2010

Messengers of Hope

How is a priest a messenger of hope?

I remember hearing a homily - quite recently actually - that really touched my heart. The young priest was talking about how the priest is always called upon at life's most difficult moments. The death of a loved one, terminal illness, painful trials, or any other assorted tragedy that you can imagine It's usually when the going gets tough, that the tough get going to a priest. There's nothing like a scrape with our own mortality to lead us closer to Christ and His Church. And when such difficult moments come, the priest is present. He stands there, right in the midst of it all, as an Alter Christus, bringing light into dark and seemingly hopeless places. He is a messenger of hope.

Messengers of Reconciliation

How is a priest a messenger of reconciliation?

Sin is social by nature. This is something that we have heard time and again in homilies. What does it mean? That even a "private and hidden sin" negatively affects not only the sinner but the whole Body of Christ. If this is true (and it is), then the flip side is also true: anytime we do something virtuous for the cause of right, then we affect not only ourselves and the immediate situation, but the whole Body of Christ. Let's take this one step further, when we are reconciled to Christ - through the Sacrament of Reconciliation - this has a positive affect on the whole Body as well. Each time a sinner repents and is forgiven in the Sacrament, and hears those blessed words: "I absolve you from your sins", the whole Body of Christ receives a measure of healing and reconciliation. When a priest sits in the confessional, hour after hour, hearing sin upon sin, absolving and bringing light into dark and seemingly hopeless places...it is precisely then that he is a most powerful messenger of reconciliation.

Messengers of Peace

How is a priest of messenger of peace?

Peace. At the Last Supper the Lord said to His Apostles: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid." (John 14:27) This peace rests upon the heart of a priest a unique way - because of their unique conformity with the Heart of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Pope John Paul II, in Gift and Mystery, explains: "The priest has a mysterious, awesome power over the Eucharistic Body of Christ. By reason of this power he becomes the steward of the greatest treasure of the Redemption, for he gives people the Redeemer in person. Celebrating the Eucharist is the most sublime and sacred function of every priest. As for me, from the very first years of my priesthood, the celebration of the Eucharist has been not only my most sacred duty, but above all, my soul's deepest need." With this said, it is easy to understand why I believe that a priest is a messenger of peace - par excellence - when he celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He brings the greatest gift of peace to the world - when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ when he speaks those sacred words of consecration. In this way, the priest bring the LIGHT OF THE WORLD into dark and seemingly hopeless places. It is precisely then that he is the most powerful messenger of peace.

To close I would like to encourage everyone to increase your prayers for our Holy Father, our Bishops, and all of our Priests. We don't always have an opportunity to thank them as we ought - let us fulfill the debt of our gratitude by our fervent prayers.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

The great pilgrimage of Lent is nearing its culmination and completion in the Sacred Triduum. We walked these 40 days with the Lord - learning invaluable lessons at the school of the Cross. The Sisters and I hope this Lent was life-changing and life-giving for all of you. As we enter into this final ascent to Jerusalem, we carry your intentions with us.

Recently I was reading Our Holy Mother Clare's letter to Ermentrude of Bruges. It is a short letter and fairly little known compared to her other letters. But it has been a favorite of mine for quite a good number of years now. I want to share with you a little snippet from this letter:

"O dearest one, look up to heaven, which calls us on, and take up the Cross and follow Christ Who has gone before us: for through Him we shall enter into His glory after many and diverse tribulations. Love God from the depths of your heart, and Jesus, His Son, Who was crucified for us sinners. Never let the thought of Him leave your mind but meditate constantly on the mysteries of the Cross and the anguish of His Mother as she stood beneath the Cross."

I hope this will be 'food for the journey' through this Holy Week. May the thought of Him never learn our mind...

Sunday, March 21, 2010

OK everyone...I have to tell you: The Nun Run was AWESOME. We are estimating 1200 people! WOW. The weather was perfect. The course was perfect. The crowd was wonderful. All in all, everyone seemed to have a marvelous time. It was a day of fun and fitness and fellowship.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Nun Run has made the news today! The Examiner, an online news magazine, featured a WONDERFUL article by Torie Cooper. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. If so, be sure to leave an encouraging comment for Torie! It's fantastic to see our life and mission so accurately represented. Thanks, Torie! Here the link for this article: The running Nuns!

Also, AZ Family's Good Morning Arizona covered the event this morning. Below you can get a peak at that. It seems like everyone has heard of the Nun Run via the news!

Sr. Esther was putting gas in the truck and a guy at that station yelled over to her: "Are you running the 10K?" He had just watched the feature on Good Morning Arizona...then ran into Sister! He knew all about our project as well. What a wonderfully positive experience this has been - not only for the FUN of the Nun Run, and not only for our exposure and fund-raising efforts, but also for the community. Everyone is beginning to catch on as to why we are here: TO ADORE OUR LORD AND TO PRAY FOR YOU!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Also we were thrilled to learn that USA Today picked up the story that Lin Sue put together on Channel 12! The video is on their website. Yay! We had a runner in FL sign up because he saw the video via USA Today. How good God is! The word is really getting out there. Thanks to EVERYONE who has made this possible.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

This announcement is a bit late in coming to you, but Sr. Augustine Marie, Sr. Esther Marie and Sr. John-Mark Maria will be appearing on FOX 10 Morning Show on Wednesday Morning, March 10th. Click here for details!

In case you don't see it live, no worries! We will post a link or a embed a video of the newscast.

TUNE IN TO EWTN'S LIFE ON THE ROCK

on THURSDAY, MARCH 11th at 6 p.m. (Phx time)

Sr. Augustine Marie will be having a 'call-in' conversation with Fr. Mark Mary on EWTN's LIFE ON THE ROCK on March 11th at 6 pm (Phoenix Time) to promote the Nun Run

Thursday, March 4, 2010

To all of you who were praying for the success of our retreat, THANK YOU. It was a wonderful time of prayer and silence…and with Fr. Emmerich’s great sense of humor…we had some good laughs too :)

Things at the building site are moving along nicely. The Sisters went out for a construction meeting on March 2nd. The mock up of the stone and the roof tile is coming along nicely. We are still adjusting the color of the roof tile, but hope to have it nailed down soon enough.

Now that the masonry work is nearly completed the progress doesn’t SEEM to be going so quickly. But in fact, things are still moving along at a good clip! They just finished the wall of the vestry and will continue to work on this area of the Chapel for a bit – finishing the masonry work around the adoration choir very soon.

It’s all very exciting. Other exciting news surrounds the NUN RUN. The countdown has begun and registrations are pouring in. The two nun-coordinators are hard at work…and deserve a break after March 20th. They have been goin’ and goin’…and prayin’ and prayin’…It is really inspiring to see all that the Lord is accomplishing!

It's now too late to register...you still have some time! Don't wait too long - registration prices go up on March 6th at 6 p.m.!

Also, just as an FYI, we have some families registering the whole crew. Isn't that WONDERFUL! We've received some questions about children participating - YES, bring the kids! It's a family event. So the more the merrier :)

The PCPAs of Our Lady of Solitude

"A religious community which refuses to conform to the requirements of the times becomes unfaithful to its founder, for it will no longer be able to do the work confided to it...A community keeps its youth if it is faithful to the spirit of its founder by striving to do things, not as they were done in the lifetime of the founder, but as the founder would do them if he were alive in our day."

About Us

Who are we? The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration of Our Lady of Solitude Monastery in the Diocese of Phoenix. We are in the process of building a new Monastery in Tonopah, Arizona. This blog is intended to keep all of our faithful friends and supporters up to date on the 'latest happenings' regarding this building project. It's also intended to keep you up to date on our day to day life and adventures!

We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary. There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him.

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"Percy and I keep a close eye on Sr. Mary Blogger to be sure she keeps you up to date!" - so sayeth Fergus the Westie

as of Jan. 11, 2010

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WHY ARE POOR CLARES BLOGGING?

Blogs! To be honest, we never knew what they were until someone suggested that we begin our own! This usually is the way of it with us Poor Clares. When my Superior told me to create a website, I had never seen the internet, did not know what a hyperlink was, and had never heard of 'google'! Yet, here I am, on my 3rd website! And enjoying every minute of it! Why? Because it is our hidden way of evangelizing! It's our hidden way of spreading the fragrance of our life, of our contemplative existence.

It's with this in mind that we have created our new blog. It's blogging from the mountaintop of our prayer and from the valley of daily duty. It's sharing our joys and challenges - which are quite heightened with the upcoming construction of the new Monastery and Chapel. Having received so much, it's our joy to give back...not only through our intercessory prayer, but also in other little ways (like this website, our quarterly newsletter, and now our 'blog').

Our contemplative life is meant to be an inspiration for all of you who are on the front lines! We hope that these little means of evangelization give you some refreshment (and that our prayers supply you with ammunition, so to speak), so that you can keep fighting the good fight of the faith.